In Flight Reviews, Flung writers provide key information about flights they take in order to leave the flying public better informed in an age of frustration, obfuscation and increasingly unfriendly skies.
JFK –> ATH
Flight: Delta Flight 40 from New York’s JFK to Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos.
Date and Time of Flight: May 25, 2015. Takeoff at 4:26pm.
Boarding: The staff called for Business Class, Platinum members and Comfort+ passengers to line up to one side of the gate, with Zone 1 behind them and Zone 2 to the left of the gate. It was an unnecessarily chaotic boarding that would have worked better had they called one group at a time to the gate. But I enjoyed watching the periodic disgruntled flyer attempt to scam the system.
Seats: Seemed fairly new, had adjustable headrests. Recline was great, but that may have been a result of my sitting in Comfort+.
Entertainment: Individual touch screen televisions that worked well. Complimentary headphones. A good selection of movies and television shows, all free. Wifi was available for a fee.
Food and drink: For dinner, passengers had a choice between beef stew and pasta. My pasta was gross, covered with an apparent tomato and vegetable sauce. It came with a side salad, dinner roll, and brownie. Starbucks coffee came with real half and half. Beer, wine and spirits were complimentary for all passengers. A weirdly heavy egg sandwich was served an hour before landing.
Staff: Flight attendants were cordial and responsive. At one point, a passenger behind me (rightfully) complained about the frigid temperature, and the flight attendant immediately had the air conditioning adjusted.
Bathrooms: Clean enough throughout the flight.
Arrival: We landed ahead of schedule.
Misc: Taking off at 4:26pm for an overnight flight did not foster a night of sleep aboard the plane. I was five hours into a 10-hour flight before I could even think about closing my eyes, and by the time I drifted off it was nearly time for breakfast.
The author’s ticket was purchased with frequent flyer miles, plus $149 for an upgrade to Comfort+, which provided copious legroom and priority boarding. The author does not qualify for elite status on this airline.
